Forget the search data spill, which gave away the browsing habits of nearly 65,000 users in August. AOL is trying to woo users by offering its online services for free. This means you get access to AOL video, a free email account, more than 200 internet radio stations and use of AOL’s security tools. Those of you that already use AOL Explorer, AOL Media Player, or Triton and trust the AOL platform will be glad to see the company making some effort.
Jeffrey Bewkes, chief operating officer of Time Warner, is optimistic and believes that going free has also brought new types of people to AOL. He revealed that “40 percent of new users were not former subscribers” but still hoped that old users who had gone off to other internet providers would be encouraged to “come back and reclaim old email addresses”. After what happened in August, I doubt ex-customers will confidently flock back to AOL though.
